Public visibility

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All AGMs and regular meetings should be open to the public (the electorate), and members of the public should be encouraged to attend by adequate publicity well before the meeting date.

Every community council should have one or more public places displaying the time and place of meetings and notices of interest to the public, such as the agenda for the next meeting.

From time to time, every community council has matters which must be discussed in private, even if it is only "who should win the local gardens contest". These matters should be discussed "in Committee" with only elected and co-opted community council members present, although where special expertise is required, others may be invited to attend. Such meetings should be confidential and no minutes taken, although it may be appropriate to record at the next regular meeting the conclusions reached.

The approved minutes of all meetings should be circulated to all members and copies should be made available to the public at local libraries or in other public places. Minutes are circulated by the council's Community Council Liaison Officer.

Good relations should be established with the local press and, if its reporters do not attend AGMs or regular meetings, a suitable press release should be issued highlighting important matters discussed and conclusions reached.

From time to time it may be advisable to issue a formal press release stating the community council's views or clarifying facts. This is particularly important when a controversial issue divides the community or when, in the opinion of the community council, their discussions have been either incompletely reported or misrepresented in the media.

For all enquiries on community councils in Renfrewshire, please contact:

• email: community-council.cs@renfrewshire.gov.uk
• phone: 0141 840 3147
• write to: Senior Committee Services Officer (Community Council Liaison), Finance and Corporate Services, Renfrewshire House, Cotton Street, Paisley, PA1 1TR